Atlanta delegation attends White House Asia business forum

Ruchika Tulshyan^[1]

Staff Writer- Atlanta Business Chronicle

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.^[2]

The importance of “Doing Business in Asia” cannot be ignored. It’s so much part of the conversations in large organizations, it’s even on the Obama Administration’s mind.

A nine-member delegation of Atlanta-area business leaders and scholars were invited to participate in an all-day “Doing Business in Asia” forum at the White House May 20.

Earlier in April, I wrote about how ignoring women was to blame for Home Depot’s failure in China^[3], from findings revealed at a similar Kennesaw State University^[4] conference last month in Atlanta.

The delegation was led by May Gao, coordinator of Asian studies at Kennesaw State and organizer of the Symposium on Asia-USA Partnership Opportunities (SAUPO) and hosted by the White House Office of Public Engagement, White House Business Council and White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Delegation members and administration officials discussed issues impacting business development, relationships and opportunities in the U.S. and Asia. Topics included: “The U.S. and Rebalance to the Asia-Pacific;” “U.S.-Asia-Pacific Comprehensive Energy Partnership;” and “Investing for Social Impact.” Kennesaw State was the only U.S. university included in the forum.

The local delegation engaged in discussions with more than 70 other business leaders from across the U.S. and with senior White House officials from the Department of Energy, the State Department, the U. S. Trade and Development Agency, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Export Import Bank of the U.S.

“The May 20 White House forum was an inaugural event, and we learned that administration officials would like to host a series of Asia-focused business events in the future,” Gao said, in a statement.

The Atlanta delegation included Shelly Riera^[5], director of advertising, AT&T; Neville Daruwalla^[6], general manager and head of Wipro’s Atlanta delivery center; Todd Sachtjen^[7], vice president, East West Bank; Donald Morrissey^[8], director of congressional affairs, Huawei Technologies; Ani Agnihotri^[9], chair Asian American Heritage Foundation and Henry Yu^[10], managing director, Fifth Third Bank^[11].

Ruchika covers banking and finance.

References

1. ^{^} Ruchika Tulshyan (feeds.bizjournals.com)
2. ^{^} This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (feeds.bizjournals.com)
3. ^{^} ignoring women was to blame for Home Depot’s failure in China (www.bizjournals.com)
4. ^{^} Kennesaw State University (www.bizjournals.com)
5. ^{^} Shelly Riera (feeds.bizjournals.com)
6. ^{^} Neville Daruwalla (feeds.bizjournals.com)
7. ^{^} Todd Sachtjen (feeds.bizjournals.com)
8. ^{^} Donald Morrissey (feeds.bizjournals.com)
9. ^{^} Ani Agnihotri (feeds.bizjournals.com)
10. ^{^} Henry Yu (feeds.bizjournals.com)
11. ^{^} Fifth Third Bank (www.bizjournals.com)